Field
This invention relates generally to security, and more specifically, to a secure device storing data.
Related Art
People have been storing important or valuable objects and documents in sentry boxes, safes, safe deposit boxes, or safe rooms. These containers provide strong physical protection to prevent theft of the content inside the containers. They are often secured physically to a fixture or building structure. Better locks, improved materials and more secure procedures have been developed over time. However, things are changing in past several decades, particularly changes regarding the important and valuable content people want to protect.
More and more information and documents are now created and stored digitally. Many important documents like birth certificates, vehicle registration, passwords, wills, medical records, personal financial records are now in digital form. Many electronic documents or assets are valuable, such as family photos, manuscripts, writings, and digital paintings. These important or valuable electronic objects or documents cannot be stored or secured in the same manner as with a sentry box or a safe deposit box. Today, we store them in a network computer in a public or private network provided by a service provider, or store them in our computers. The safety provided by a sentry box or a safe deposit box is not available for these computers. Once a computer is stolen or hacked, the information stored in the computer is subject to theft.
It would be desirable for a bank, for example, to allow Mary to store her electronic will that can only be accessed in the bank. In another situation, John has many online accounts and creates an electronic document file storing all the passwords of the accounts. John stores the password file in his laptop computer. John wants to be sure the password file will be safe. John wants his laptop computer to only be able to review the password file while located in his home office. In a similar way, John owns a jewelry shop and maintains an important client list. John wants the client list be accessible only in his shop. This way, John can prevent any employee in his shop from accessing the client information even if the client list document file is stolen and taken outside the shop.
In a different situation, Mary's employer allows Mary to use her mobile phone to access corporate financial documents. The employer requires the financial documents only be accessible by her mobile phone when Mary is in the office.
The above scenarios illustrate the need to provide security for electronic data using location information.